Her Heart, His obsession

68. Nightmare & Hope

Athena screamed as she woke up. She was breathing heavily and looking at her surroundings with worry. She whispered with panic; " So it was only a dream. But it seemed like reality. It seemed real."

Donavan was sitting on a chair in front of her bed and looking at her with concerned eyes. He spoke softly " Shhh, It's ok. You need to lie down. You lost so much energy protecting the girls and the jewel of illusion. Lay down. You need to rest Athena. Just stay in bed"

Athena shook her head and remained seated on the bed. She was just way too stressed to lay down. She looked at him with a confused expression " Where am I? What happened to the captives we saved from the Northern Territory? Are they safe? Where is the jewel of illusion? Where is the coven?"

Donavan smiled and sat on the bed and started stroking Athenas arm but Athenas eyes widened and pulled her hand away " Donavan don't touch me. Dante is possessive. He would kill you if he ever senses that you have made contact with me in any way after he has issued his threats to me. This is serious. Avoid getting close to me. But seriously answer my questions. I need to know what's happened. The last thing I remember was when we teleported out of Dante's base. I remember landing and then.... All went black."

Donavan sighed and got up from the bed. He stood up towering over Athenas form and spoke " Happy now? Is my distance far enough now? Since when do you give into threats Athena? Dante is just a power hungry monster who will be stopped by us justice seekers pretty soon. Let me guess. He has threatened those you love. Don't let him blackmail you like this. Don't fear for the lives of others. This is what he wants. He knows its not easy to bend your will and get you on his side willingly so he is trying to get you with threats. he knows you are a healer and cant imagine others suffering for you. Athena ignore his ......"

Athena shook her head "No. You dont understand who you are dealing with. He would destroy those I love and more. I cant afford to let anyone get close to me and give him excuses to cause harm on my account."

Donavan was looking at Athena with a concerned expression. His tone became softer now "Dont let him intimidate you like this. I knew it was a bad idea for you to face him so soon. I for one would oppose any propositions from you or your healer coven to ever attack Dante and face his enforcers by yourselves again. Next time, I won't let you leave unless a descent number of fighters from the Alaskan army come with you. I even would order all werewolves in my pack to come along to fight alongside you. But seriously Athena. Please drop this defeated act. I don't know what Dante has said or done to you to make you act this way. You have never pulled away from me before. What's changed. You should take a look into the mirror. You look pale and distressed. What happened. The girls brought back your unconscious form and said you fainted upon return. They said your role was to keep Dante in his chambers using the jewel of illusion. Is this true? What else happened? What did he say to you to become so stressed. You lost consciousness when you came back. What did he do?"

Athena stood up and faced Donavan " It does not matter what he said or did. What matters is that you and others have no idea who you are dealing with. Dante is not like any other enemy you have faced Donavan. He is indestructible. He is invincible. He has no weaknesses. I have felt his power growing. Every time i have met him, his powers seem to double in size. The prophecy must have been right. His dormant powers will keep waking up until at least another year. We are just delaying the inevitable. He will bring our downfall unless we hide and runaway. He is not an enemy we can face head in Donavan. Believe me."

Donavan laughed bitterly " What's happened to you. Why are you giving up. But I cant really blame you. You girls shouldnt have ambushed Dante's captive base all by yourselves. You must have seen some horrors back there that makes you fear the Ronas army. That's what they want Athena. They want to weaken our faith. They want us to lose the will to fight. They want us to surrender and let them dictate their stupid principles to us without facing any resistance. I refuse to believe that there is no way of winning this battle. There has to be a way. We can't give up Athena. Believe in this cause again. Please Athena. We cant let them terrorise us. They rule with fear. I should know. You seem to have forgotten that I have witnessed their cruelties first hand. I lived under the Ronas laws forcefully when my mother took me to Arkansas to visit my brother. They kept me and my mother there against our will. It was hell. The worst 8 years of my life. They were dark years that I would rather forget. You have never lived under the Robas rule to know what it's like to be helpless trapped in the clutches of ruthless monsters. I watched my stepfather get beaten up by my grand parents. I watched my so called biological father that back then I had no knowledge of storm our house and attack my mother repeatedly for refusing his proposal to get re-married. My mother always taught me not to give up and always fight for i believed in. Do you know what would have happened if my mother was caught that night when she escaped through the Arksnsan borders illegally with a 13 year old son? Do you know how heavy her sentence would have been if she was ever caught. In the best case scenario, she would have been most likely condemned to the conversion process and would have been most likely banished and put under house arrest. I am sure Marcus would have taken a court order out to forbid me from seeing my mother and I would have been raised and guided by him for the rest of my life. That's what my mother did for me. She saved me from a loveless life full of pain and suffering. She never lost hope and took risks. I want you to do the same. I want you to keep your hopes alive. Even if our chances of winning are slim , it doesnt matter. At least we try to defeat that heartless Ronas with all we have".